Wang Xueqing (wahng ssee-yoo-eh cheeng) stared at the pile of books on her desk. Then she turned around to look at the clock on the wall at the back of the classroom: 9:15 p.m. In forty-five more minutes, they could return to their dorms and go to sleep. The fluorescent lights shone a cold, white light throughout the room, and Xueqing looked out the window at the night sky that was already black. No moon tonight.

As Xueqing’s gaze drifted from the window back to the classroom, she noticed her teacher looking in her direction. When they made eye contact, her teacher motioned for her to keep her eyes on her work. Xueqing turned back to the math textbook that was open in front of her. In the past twenty minutes, she had only completed three problems.

            Studying for one more minute means that your future husband will be different. Xueqing’s mom’s voice echoed in her head. This was her mom’s favorite thing to tell her to make her study, but Xueqing hated it when her mom said that. Of course, she didn’t want to marry some bum from the village, but she also hated studying. And she definitely hated studying for twelve hours a day.

            As these thoughts whirled around in her head, Xueqing caught the eye of her friend Dai Lin (die leen), who sat to her left. Dai Lin nodded in the direction of another classmate in front of them, and Xueqing stifled a giggle when she noticed that the other classmate was starting to nod off at his desk. His pencil had fallen out of his hands and his head was drooping forward.

            But really, isn’t that what we all want to do? Xueqing tried to focus her eyes on the math problems that still lay unanswered, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the teacher pause her patrol to wake the dozing classmate. Even though she felt sorry for him, she didn’t dare raise her head to observe the confrontation, and instead kept her eyes glued to the next math problem.

            Halfway through the next problem, she noticed her foot tapping to an invisible beat and realized that the melody to Eason Chan’s (chahn) recent hit was running through her mind. If only I had my AirPods, this study hall would be a million times more bearable! Xueqing continued moving her foot in time with the imaginary music and tried to return to the math problem.

            Five minutes later, Xueqing realized that her pen wasn’t moving, and she had been dreaming of her bed. No—she had been dreaming of a cold milk tea with those exploding tapioca beads full of fruity flavors. Just last weekend, she had managed to escape her practice tests long enough to go to the mall with a couple of her friends, including Dai Lin. They had walked slowly past the shops, laughing at the college girls snapping selfies with their expensive milk teas; all the while secretly wishing they were allowed to wear make-up at school and could afford to take selfies at the trendy milk tea shops, rather than the little outdoor stalls near campus.

            I wish we could be in the mall now with some cold milk tea—even if it’s cheap. Xueqing saw that her teacher was on the other side of the room and risked another look at the clock. 9:35 p.m. Twenty-five more minutes. She set her pen down and rubbed her eyes.

            Twenty-five minutes plus six months. Then she would take the college entrance exam—then she could finally relax. She could go shopping whenever she wanted, and she could sleep whenever she wanted. If she could just survive the rest of this year, maybe life would get better.

            Xueqing decided to give up on math for the time being. Maybe if I take a break, I’ll be able to study harder tomorrow. Just one more minute of studying felt impossible, even if it did mean that she would marry a bum. She started doodling an anime character with dramatic clothes and jagged hair. Smiling, she drew him a little cup of milk tea.